On 3 and 4 February, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)'s Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), a forum where the 21 APEC member economies deliberate on trade and policy issues, agreed on the next steps for the introduction and spread of advertising standards in the region. The aim is to develop principles that APEC economies can use when considering or further developing their own advertising self-regulatory regimes with a view to minimising potential technical barriers to trade.

CTI discussed a Report on the outcomes and recommendations of the Hanoi Dialogue (see report from November 2012) and agreed that further work and examination of the recommendations enshrined in the Report should be undertaken. The specialist Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) will perform this task. The SCSC assists the CTI to achieve APEC's trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation agenda.

During the Hanoi Dialogue on Advertising Standards- Principles and Practice, a consensus was reached that the Australian Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) continue to promote best-practice initiatives and principles of advertising self-regulation both internationally and within Australia. It was also noted that the APAC region could draw from existing international advertising self-regulatory best practices. In this regard WFA gave a keynote presentation underlining the critical economic importance of advertising as well as the socio-economic and cultural benefits of effective advertising standards.

The next step will be the SCSC Committee reviewing the recommendations and reporting back to the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment.